Many categories of people can now apply for seeking permanent residency in Australia. Northern Territory is in favour of opening its door for skilled migrants belonging to 117 occupations. Moreover, it offers a path towards PR to the workers who agree to live and work in this region for three years.

Distributing the population of migrants outside major cities

Australia is pursuing a policy to allocate the population of migrants outside the major cities like Melbourne and Sydney. Moreover, it has an option of Designation Area Migration Agreements for attracting migrants to various regional areas spread out in the country.

This scheme is applicable to two regions:

• Warrnambool in Victoria

• Northern Territory

These areas experience heavy labour shortages and also need an increase in population.

The agreement for Northern Territory comes into effect from Jan 1st 2019.

The focus of Government

Mr David Coleman Immigration Minister said that DAMA II serves as a case of the Government focus on the migration program for benefiting specific locations. It is also working for improving the immigration program to match with the requirements of the country. For the Government, the top priority is to fill up jobs by employing Australians. Moreover, the immigration policies play a vital role to fill up skills gaps in regions. The Territory has also witnessed the gains of DAMA, to meet the shortages in the workforce.

The partnership

This partnership with the Government of the Territory has the goal of supporting the skills requirements of the local business community. This is especially true when local workmen are not in a position to fill up these jobs. Both the Governments have a shortlist of 117 occupations covering jobs where employers will opt in recruiting skilled migrants when they are not in a position to fill up these jobs locally. Some of these occupations can also get a concession in the English language and also in the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.

Benefits of moving to the NT

Michael Gunner, Chief Minister, NT, said that by this pathway to PR in DAMA II, the skilled migrants can undertake to live in this region and also stay for a long time.

There is a Government priority in jobs for the people of the Territory, but access to employ and retain, professional skilled workers is a major demand of many employers. Moreover, there is a great demand for more workers. The Government was very keen to include the path to PR in the new agreement. It has the aim to increase the movement of skilled professionals, in a big way. This area is proud of the migration of foreign nationals who are a major contributor to social diversity, economic growth, and also in population growth. There will be better results because of this decision.